Malta Attacker: 23 Sqn Mosquito (Tamiya 1/72)

[maltadefender]

Hello everyone, apologies for my delayed start on this GB. SO much loveliness being built! Between now and Christmas there's a couple of builds I'd like to do but I'm going to start with something of a later vintage than I'm accustomed to: a 23 Squadron Mosquito NF.II based on Malta in 1942-43.

 

The squadron had been flying intruder missions over France before it was withdrawn at short notice, re-equipped and flew to from the UK to Luqa, with a five-day stop in Gibraltar, in December 1942.  It was equipped with Mosquito NF.IIs and stayed on the Island until October 1943. 

 

The decal sheet has markings for DZ230/YP-A, which was flown by the C.O., Wg Cdr Peter Wykeham-Barnes. He was credited with downing two Ju88s in this aeroplane and it was written off in a landing accident in mid-1943. The squadron's primary roles were intruding over Sicily and mainland Italy, shooting down a Junkers Ju52/3 over Castel Vetrano for its first Maltese 'kill' (Wykeham-Barnes recording that it 'took evasive action by blowing up into a thousand pieces').

 

As well as air-to-air intruding over Italy, the squadron was also tasked with ground attack operations over North Africa, many of which involved harassing axis troop movements around Tripoli. During the German evacuation, the squadron's Mosquitos were able to block the road over a length of about 15 miles, and subsequently flew up and down the jam strafing targets revealed by burning transports.

 

Attrition was quite high and the squadron faced many logistical issues, not the least of which being a complete absence of replacement Merlin XXI engines. A lot of cannibalism took place among the wrecks that littered the Island, with replacement Merlins being pulled out of Hurricanes and Wellingtons that had no further need of them. In 1943 a review of the squadron's situation stated that the primary concerns in descending order were replacement airframes, replacement spares, replacement crews and overheating.

 

The kit will be the Tamiya 1/72 NF.II / FB.VI and the decals will be from the Xtradecal set X72091 23 Squadron RAF 1940-1990.

 

I'd originally intended to build this in the 2013 Mossie GB but my first (Airfix) NF.II went horribly wrong and I started a new job. Having now finally got off the pot and made my decision to have another stab at it in this GB, I'll post pictures of the kit and decals tomorrow.

Edited November 30, 2016 by maltadefender

[Col.]

"took evasive action by blowing up into a thousand pieces"

Excellent choice of subject

[rob85]

Great subject MD really good to see something different from Malta! Really looking forward to it.

 

 Rob 

[maltadefender]

Glad you like the idea, chaps - thank you!

 

I've taken pictures but this is the first time I've tried posting them on the new-look forum. Any tips? Photo bucket is throwing a wobbly!

 

[maltadefender]

Aha! By George I've got it...

 

The decision to go with the Mossie was taken as I nearly finish my (rather rough!) resin-assisted W4050 conversion of the bomber kit.  It's only taken three years!

 

Now that I've mastered this picture business, I'll start poring over the instructions! Thanks for sticking with me...

[Tomoshenko]

Ooh yes looking forward to this.

 

"Took evasive action by blowing up into a thousand pieces" ... priceless comment!

 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning

Great another Mossie fan

Patrice

[maltadefender]

I read the instructions twice and threw a bit of paint at the Mossie last night. Just the main interior colours.

 

 

These could be famous last words but, having nearly completed W4050, it strikes me that there isn't so much to do on the interior. Very little of the cockpit can be seen from the outside, so buying aftermarket goodies would appear to be gilding the lily. I'll do a bit of detailing and get it built as soon as poss.

 

I sat up in bed reading what there is about 23 Squadron in Malta - which is actually not much. Compared to the heroics of the Island's defence, there is not much prose to be wrung out of a bunch of young hooligans cheerfully blasting away at airfields, aircraft, trains and the occasional ship until there wasn't anything left to shoot at. A shortened version of their story reads as follows:

 

In late December 1942, under the leadership of Keith Park, the bedraggled and bombed-out RAF in Malta had been brought back into full order. Hardly a single complete building stood on any of its airfields, but the day-to-day management was as slick as it needed to be.

 

The 23 Squadron crews had heard all about the relentless bombing and strafing to which the Spitfires had been subjected when they arrived, so they pulled off the runway fast.  A rather breathless Wykeham-Barnes asked if they should hurry out to the dispersals in case of attack, to which a rather laid-back duty officer said they would worry about that sort of thing in the morning.

 

After meeting with the Senior Air Staff Officer and Park himself, the general brief was made clear.  Beaufort torpedo bombers were the most numerous aircraft in action and the Mosquitos were intended to provide active support by destroying anything that flew over Sicily without roundels on it, whether it be in the air or on the ground.

 

Before these operations could get underway, however, came word of the breakthrough at Tripoli, which meant all aircraft had to make this their priority. The Mosquitos attacked at night, getting to within a mile of their intended target and then firing a short burst.  This would cause the anti-aircraft batteries to open up and reveal their positions, giving the Mosquito crews an opportunity to plan how to best avoid them before attacking the columns of fleeing Axis troops and materiel.

 

All aircraft suffered significant damage from anti-aircraft and small arms fire.  The Mosquitos were patched up using wood from cigar boxes, old bomb bay doors and tea chests – with the local coffin maker’s skills finding an outlet in repairing shot-up Mossies that was greatly appreciated by all.

 

After the rout of Tripoli came the intended work of intruding over Sicily.  The Mosquitos were now well used to the job and would simply lurk near enough to the airfields to force any inbound aircraft to hold off until they were so short of fuel that they had no option but to land.  Once the target was on finals, with no reserves to escape, the Mosquitos would sweep in and destroy them.  As if this sort of predation wasn’t depressing enough for the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica there was one pilot, 'Wal' Williams, who liked to wait until his victims were actually on the runway before hitting them - although this tended to draw furious anti-aircraft fire in return.

 

In his phlegmatic way, Wykeham-Barnes described the squadron’s casualties as ‘not light’.  In total 39 men of 23 Squadron would be killed during the campaign: 18 crews and three ground staff, with several more crews being taken POW or being wounded.  Nevertheless, their time on the Island wrought havoc with Axis air operations and bit major chunks out of the rail network on Sicily and mainland Italy.

 

After the invasion of Sicily the Mosquito NF.IIs were replaced by FB.VIs. After the invasion of Italy a number of forward operational bases were used by the squadron from which it was able to roam over virtually all of Italy but its admin and official base throughout its time in the Med was to remain at Luqa. 

 

And with that, I'll get back to a bit of cockpit detailing...

Edited December 1, 2016 by maltadefender

[maltadefender]

Does anyone else remember Points of View? That strange BBC programme where people could write in and complain about things in the days before the Daily Mail got a website with a comments section? You could always tell who was really irate because their letters started 'Why oh why...'

 

So in the spirit of Points of View, therefore, 'why oh why' do I keep putting my faith in Xtracolor enamels? Why?

 

Yet again I fell prey to the pot of 'RAF Night' in my paint box. It's just bad quality gloss black. It looks no different to black. It is black. I know that the undersides of RAF aeroplanes were in fact a very, very dark blue and yada-yada-yada but this paint? It's just black that requires three coats to cover the plastic, which shows up every brush stroke and which takes about a week to dry.

 

I know it will (probably) look OK when it's lacquered, weathered and all the rest. But for now it's in the airing cupboard being very, very annoying.

 

Grrrr... rant over.

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by maltadefender

[Seahawk]

1 hour ago, maltadefender said:

Yet again I fell prey to the pot of 'RAF Night' in my paint box. It's just bad quality gloss black. It looks no different to black. It is black. I know that the undersides of RAF aeroplanes were in fact a very, very dark blue and yada-yada-yada but this paint? It's just black that requires three coats to cover the plastic, which shows up every brush stroke and which takes about a week to dry.

 

 I feel your pain.  But am relieved to discover it isn't just me.  Once upon a time, in the mists of antiquity, I fought an Italeri Wellington through to the painting stage.  One attempt at painting the undersides and it went into the box of doom, never to be seen again.  Though the paint might have dried by now... 

[maltadefender]

I'm almost at a loss for words to describe the pleasures of the Tamiya Mossie. It's such a relief to put some time doing something that is so well-designed, so clever and so clearly intended to give even a duffer like me a fighting chance of a decent result.

 

Certainly, it is a massive relief after the last few wrestling matches that I've subjected myself to! In fact, the pleasures of this kit even compensate for my ridiculous choice of paint for the underside. And it's already starting to look rather like a Mossie:

 

 

 

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I feel some camo coming on...

[maltadefender]

Today's been a good day so far. The wings went on at breakfast time. I've done a little bit every two or three hours and here's where we are. The plan is now to touch up any patches in the camo and then tidy up the interior. I'll mask and paint the first coat of Night underneath before bed, then pop her in the airing cupboard overnight. The only glaring mistake so far I think is that the mudguards on the undercarriage are a bit too snug on the wheels.

 

Love, love, love this kit. I've got the 1/48 in my stash... very tempting to whip it out when this one's done. But I've got another idea for my second MTO build.

 

Concentrate... concentrate... as Murray Walker used to say, there's many a slip twixt cup and lip!

 

[maltadefender]

Well, the Night is on now - all except the empennage.

 

Looking closely at the original aircraft, the Night undersides were done fairly crudely and look a bit messy. Doing a nice, tidy job with masking it off and getting a nice, even finish would be wrong, so I set the masking tape about 1mm above where I wanted to put the paint and tried a bit of 'vignetting'. I followed the line of the tape as closely as I could without going all the way up to it, using a small brush and semi-dry brushed a thin line of Night. Then I repeated this line, overlapping slightly, to get a slightly fuller colour beneath.  Finally I filled in below these lines for a full Night underside.

 

It's sort of gradually denser and as close as I could get to looking like it was hurriedly airbrushed while using a hairy stick. It does run the risk of looking like I've done a poor job of masking my model but hopefully it will pay off and look like it's intentional - and look closer to the original than it would if I'd just masked it and painted a solid line.

 

I shall leave this paint dry - and it will have to take however long it takes!

 

 

[maltadefender]

Paint is drying but tacky to the touch. Doesn't look too bad - a few little patches to touch in.

 

I'm going to get the top surfaces of the stabilisers painted in camo and fit them, then finish and fit the props and the nose section, then she'll have to go on hold for a few days. I've decided that my masking skills aren't quite up to the job of the canopy, so I've ordered an Eduard mask. I'll have the rest of this one done and ready to receive the canopy and then it should be a hop and a skip to the finish.

 

I've got a few ideas for the second MTO build but all are limited by a paint shortage. Hopefully I can stock up before Wednesday and then get cracking.

 

I'll post a couple more pics of the Mossie tonight before she goes on hold awaiting the canopy.

[Tomoshenko]

Nicely done and all old school style with a hairy stick.

[maltadefender]

Thanks, Tomoshenko!

 

Here's the state of play until I get the canopy masks.

 

 

It does look a bit lumpy with the hairy stick but I find that with a layer of Klear before declaring, a coat of matt/semi-matt afterwards and a bit of weathering it all settles down in the end.

 

 

She looks a bit rough and ready still and won't get close to Tony O'T's brushwork but will improve from here and looks ice in the cabinet already while awaiting her canopy.

 

 

See you on the other side of canopy masking with this one. Meanwhile I'll sort out build number 2.

[tonyot]

Great choice with the nose art, wavy underside demarcation and that fact that this was one of the few which didn`t have tropical filters fitted under the engines! Looking good so far and looking forward to seeing it finished,

Cheers

           Tony

[maltadefender]

Thanks, Tony. Xtracolor still drying underneath but I'm looking forward to finishing her off, too!

[maltadefender]

Well whaddayaknow... the Mossie has got a canopy at last.

 

 

That's one big step towards the finish line for this one.

[tonyot]

Looks great,.....the canopy is usually my sticking point with a Mossie build, especially the internal framing,...... keep up the good work,

Cheers

             Tony

[maltadefender]

There's one internal frame that I accidentally painted MSG but a blind man would like to see it!

 

Even better news is that the 1/48 kit comes with a Malta scheme and a Tilly, which was used in Malta too (I think I'm right in thinking that there never was an RAF blue Tilly in service during the war and Tamiya's dropped a clanger). I can't wait to do that one now, but there are a few builds to do before that one. Maybe the proposed de Havilland GB!

[rob85]

She is coming together very nicely!

 

Rob

[PlaStix]

1 hour ago, rob85 said:

She is coming together very nicely!

Rob

+1

Got to agree with Rob!

Kind regards,

Stix

[maltadefender]

Glad you like her chaps. Blessedly few stencils on a Mossie. Markings starting to go on too.

 

[maltadefender]

All decals done. By this time tomorrow hopefully she'll be wrapped up and on to the next one.